Tightener for clotheslines



\ July 8 E924.

' v c, s. CUDMORE TIGHTENER FOR CLOTHESLINES Filed June29. 1923 lInventor 7V/07%? fzedm@ Attorney Patented July 8, 1924.

CLIFFORD s. CUDMORE, or sAufT STE. MARIE, ONTARIO, CANADA.

TIGHTENER non c'IioTH-EsLI-Nns.

Appucatiii inea June 2'9, 1925.. serial No. 648,612.

TovaZZ whom-t may concern.'

Be itknown that I, CLIFFORD S. CUDMORE, a subject of the' King of GreatBritain, residing at Sault Ste. Marie, Province of Ontario,; Canada,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tighteners forGlotl'ieslines; and Ido hereby declare that the following is afull,c'lear,` and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it apperta-ins to make and usethe same.

The present invention pertains to novel improvements in tighteners forclotheslines.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a' ,device ofthis cha-racter by means' of whichpthe tension of a line may be variedto suit conditions arising in its use, and also to jtake` up slack thatoccurs as aresult ofthe stretching of the line.

, To thisr end the ydevice comprises a Vframe in which is slidablymounted a shaft carrying device, a shaft, and a pulley. The clothes linepasses .around this pulley, among others, and suitable meansv are-provided for turning the shaft carryingthe pulley.` TheA shaft carryingmember is in the form of a yoke slidably mounted within the frame. Tothe yoke is fixed one end of a screw which is threaded through an end ofthe frame and provided at its opposite end with an operating handle. Bymeans of this handle the screw is turned, as the result of which theposition of the shaft and pulley within the frame is determined.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following description and in theaccompanying drawings in which:

igure 1 is a side elevation of the device;

Figure 2 is a front view thereof;

Figure 3 is a similar view of the frame in detail;

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4 4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is an enlarged section on the line 6-6 of Figure 3; and,

Figure 7 is a side elevation of a modification.

Reference will now be had to these views by means of like characterswhich are employed to designate corresponding parts throughout. InFigures 1 and 2 the numeral 1 indicates a supporting element such as apost or a window frame to which the device is secured. The numeral 2indicates a A similar member at the opposite end ofthe line. l Thismember has fixed thereto a bracket 3 to which is pivotally attached asheave' frame 4 by means of a pivotpin 5. The frame 4 carries a sheave6.

The supporting member 1 has fixed thereto brackets 7 an-d 8, the lowerbracket 8 being somewhat longer than the member 7. These brackets havepivotally attached thereto frames 9 and 10 carrying sheaves 11 and 12respectively. y

Beneath the bracket 8 is supported the guide frame 13 of the tightenercomprising the essential feature of the invention. In the formillustrated in Figures 1 to 6, the frame 13 is supported in parallelVrelation with the element 1 by means of legs 14 havingtheir outer endssecured to the frame and their inner ends formed with feet 15 fixed' tothe supporting member 1. Thefeet may be formed in accordancewith theconfiguration of the member 1; for example, if this member be a roundpost, vthe feet will bel curved for firm engagement therewith.

he frame 13 is of substantially rectangular formation and is formed withelongated slots 16 in'its sides. Tithin the frame is mounted a yoke 17the sides of which are in contact with the inner sides of the frame andare formed with anges 18 which aid in maintaining the yoke within theframe. In the upper ends of the yoke is rotatably supported an axle orshaft 19 which passes through the slots 16. A feed pulley 20 having ahub 21 is slipped upon the axle and secured thereto by means of the setscrew 22. One end of the axle is formed with a head 23 for preventingthe axle from slipping inwardly through the slot at that side, while theremaining end is squared as at 24. Upon the lsquared end ispassed a hub26 of a crank 25,awasher 27 being inserted between the hub and the frameside. The hub is held against slipping off the shaft by means of acotter pin 28. A tightening screw 29 is passed through the base of theyoke and the bottom 'of the frame, and is secured to the yoke by meansof the head 30. The lower end of the frame 13 may be provided with aplate 31 which may also be internally threaded for accommodating thescrew. The latter is provided at its free or remaining end with anoperatinghandle 32. It will be obvious that the screw may ass throughthe top of the frame as wel as through the bottom.

and the frame 13 is disposed in parallel re- Y lation with the clothesline. This construction is used when the supporting element 1"'A ishorizontal rather than vertical as in the other figures. The framecontains a feed pulley 20 supported in the same manner as the member 20of the other modification. This pulley is adjusted with reference to itsposition in the frame by means of a screw 29 in the manner alreadydescribed. Y

l In the use of the form shown in Figures 1 to 6, the line 33 is passedaround the sheave 6, over the sheaves 11 and 12, around the feed pulley20 and then is tightened by hand and spliced. The iinal tightening isobtained by manipulation of the screw 29 by means of its handle 32. Inorder that the approximately vertical portions of the cord beneath thesheaves 11 and 12 will not interfere with each other, the brackets 7 and8 are offset somewhat laterally from one another, as shown inFigure 2.The sheaves 11 and 12 take their proper position with reference to thepulley 20 because of their pivotal attachment to the brackets. Theworking surface A of the pulley 20 is formed with ridges 34 which have agripping eifect on the cord. It will be obvious that this arrangementpermits of the cable being slackened or tightened during the applicationof clothes thereto or the removal of clothes therefrom. Similarly thecord may be tightened as it becomes stretched in use. The foregoing modeof operation applies also to the form shown in Figure 7, with the soleexception tha the sheaves 11 and 12 are not considere While a specificembodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it is tobe understood that various alterations in the details of constructionmay be made without departing from the spirit of the invention asindicated by the appended claims.

I-Iaving thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new andVdesire `to protect by Letters Patent is n 1. A tightener for clotheslines comprising a frame having slotted-sides, a yoke slidably mountedwithin said frame, a shaft rotatably supported in said yoke andextending through said slotted sides, a pulley mounted on said shaft, ascrew rotatably secured to the yoke and threaded through the frame, andmeans for turning said screw.

v2. A tightener for clothes lines 1comprising a frame having slottedsides, a yoke slidably mounted within said frame, iianges formed ,onsaid yoke and engaging the sides of said frame, a shaft rotatablysupported in said yoke and extending through said slotted sides, apulley mounted on said shaft, a screw rotatably secured to the yoke andthreaded through the frame, and means for. turning said screw. Y

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand. V

CLIFFORD sfoUDMoRE.

